Report: Ocasio-Cortez campaign made unethical, possibly illegal payments to congresswoman’s boyfriend

Make sure to let us know what you think... we now have comments turned ON below the article!

Although the congresswoman insists otherwise, one independent reporter says New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is just as swampy as any other Democrat in Congress.

In a report based on public documents, political pundit and strategist Luke Thompson alleged that Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 campaign may have funneled money through a PAC to her boyfriend, a dubious arrangement that raises ethical questions and, according to Thompson, could be illegal.

Boyfriend makes bank

Thompson first revealed last week that Ocasio-Cortez’s boyfriend, Riley Roberts, had been granted an email address ending in @house.gov, a privilege that is typically reserved for staff and sometimes family of members of Congress. But Roberts is not officially married to Ocasio-Cortez — or at least, he was not when the congresswoman filled out campaign disclosures in 2017 and 2018 — and his status as an official staff member for her office remains in question.

This revelation from Thompson, which he first posted to Twitter, drew swift and spirited rebuttals from Ocasio-Cortez, her team, and many acolytes — which only prompted Thompson to do some more digging.

As it turns out, according to Thompson’s report on Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Roberts was paid to work on Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign in 2017 by a PAC that had been hired by the campaign to provide “strategic consulting” and other services.

That PAC was known as Brand New Congress, which was created by Silicon Valley tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti. The organization is legally structured as both a PAC and a separate limited liability company (LLC), both of which have goals of helping unknown and unconnected candidates gain equal ground against established opponents.

The Brand New Congress PAC is also closely affiliated with the Justice Democrats, which was co-founded by Chakrabarti and progressive leftist pundit Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks.

Money through the funnel

But that’s not all. A review by Thompson revealed that Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign paid Brand New Congress LLC slightly more than $18,000 in three separate payments for their work ahead of the 2018 midterms.

Soon after, Brand New Congress LLC paid Roberts at least $6,000 for his work as a “marketing consultant” for the Ocasio-Cortez campaign.

“Why would Chakrabarti, a founding engineer at Stripe and a wealthy veteran of Silicon Valley, be hiring a no-name ‘UX Experience’ guy with little discernible marketing experience to serve as Brand New Congress PAC’s sole marketing consultant?” Thompson wondered, referring to Roberts. “The answer seems to be that Chakrabarti was funneling money paid to him by AOC’s campaign back to Roberts and by extension to AOC.”

Put simply, according to Thompson: “It seems probable Chakrabarti was reimbursing [Ocasio-Cortez] for her campaign expenses off-books” via Roberts. This claim, like the rest of Thompson’s report, has not been confirmed — but it seems Chakrabarti maintains a close relationship with Ocasio-Cortez and her boyfriend.

After Ocasio-Cortez won her campaign in 2018, Chakrabarti was hired on as the congresswoman’s chief of staff, prompting further speculation of wrongdoing from pundits like Thompson, who has been barraged with hate messages from supporters of AOC, including Chakrabarti and even the congresswoman herself. His Twitter account was also temporarily suspended, though Twitter soon reinstated it and apologized.

Meanwhile, it seems Ocasio-Cortez and her campaign have some explaining to do. Perhaps these shady dealings can be explained away, but if Chakrabarti indeed “made an illegal campaign contribution in excess of federal limits” like Thompson alleges, there’s no getting out of this one for AOC.

799 Responses

  1. Having read this I thought it was really informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this content together. I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worth it!

  2. After looking into a handful of the articles on your web page, I seriously like your way of writing a blog. I saved as a favorite it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back soon. Please check out my website as well and tell me how you feel.

  3. Wow! This could be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Wonderful. I’m also an expert in this topic therefore I can understand your hard work.

  4. Hello there, I do believe your blog could be having web browser compatibility problems. Whenever I take a look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in I.E., it has some overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other than that, excellent website!

  5. That means you’ll either have to study a refrigerator repair manual intensively or hire a licensed repairman to complete the job for you. Although Bosch dishwashers are known to be produced in high quality and have superior performance, each of the different models has their own particular strengths and drawbacks. Many people including me prefer the tablets because they’re so convenient.

  6. Howdy would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a tough time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!

  7. Having read this I believed it was rather enlightening. I appreciate you finding the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worthwhile!

  8. I blog often and I seriously thank you for your content. Your article has really peaked my interest. I am going to book mark your site and keep checking for new information about once per week. I subscribed to your Feed as well.

  9. You are so awesome! I do not think I have read anything like that before. So great to find another person with genuine thoughts on this topic. Really.. many thanks for starting this up. This website is something that is needed on the web, someone with some originality!

  10. I absolutely love your site.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you develop this site yourself? Please reply back as I’m looking to create my very own blog and would like to learn where you got this from or what the theme is named. Thanks!

  11. Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Many thanks, However I am encountering difficulties with your RSS. I don’t know the reason why I am unable to join it. Is there anyone else getting similar RSS issues? Anyone that knows the solution will you kindly respond? Thanks!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Popular